"I'm 5-9, actually," Ulis told Sporting News. And following the time-honored approach of measuring undersized basketball players -- using our own 5-7 1/2 height as the standard -- we can report he's absolutely telling the truth.

A senior at Marian Catholic High in Chicago Heights, Ulis has grown not only in stature, but also in status. When the summer began, Ulis was ranked the No. 38 player in the 2014 recruiting class by ESPN.com, No. 41 by Scout and No. 49 by Rivals. Which isn't bad for someone who looks like he could be posted up by Kristin Chenoweth. But neither is it accurate. There's no way there are 37 or 40 or 48 better college basketball prospects in the high school senior class.

Michigan State has known this forever, in part because his cousin, Travis Walton, was a three-year Spartans captain whose career concluded in the 2009 NCAA championship game. Iowa, DePaul, Florida State, Northwestern, Purdue and USC have been pursuing him. He picked up four more scholarship offers just last month because of his stellar play, including from Memphis, Miami and Missouri. He will cut down that list sometime after he returns home this month from Chris Paul's Elite Guard Camp.

"They don't worry about my size any more," Ulis said. "They just tell me once I get there, they'll put weight on me. They don't care how tall I am."

Why? Ulis is a basketball genius. Not many of them come along, and usually such a prodigy is borne of necessity: Larry Bird overcoming his marginal athleticism, Magic Johnson trying to play point guard in a power forward's body and, more to the point, Muggsy Bogues trying to survive in this game at 5-3.

It was no accident Ulis went to Nike's EYBL at the Peach Jam, the best scholastic-age tournament in the nation, and ranked fifth in assists (6.8) and eighth in scoring (19.2) despite obviously ranking among the shortest players in the event.

His brilliance is a challenge to capture in mere numbers, however. His gift for passing the ball only can be appreciated by watching him at work. Ulis has an understanding of basketball's geometry that would titillate Euclid.

In a game in The Eight, a tournament organized in Las Vegas by NBA star Chris Paul, Ulis executed a continual series of staggering moves, none more delightful than a bounce pass that resulted in a teammate's blown layup.

See, it wasn't just any bounce pass. Ulis began the play with the ball at the foul line, then made a quick dash down the left side of the lane before jumping into the air to his right, moving toward the center of the lane as he flew. A defender concerned Ulis would launch a teardrop shot leaped up from the baseline to discourage a shot, which is exactly what Ulis expected. That left an open teammate, Tyler Wideman, on the left block.

Ulis cut loose a sizzling two-hand bounce pass that looked like it had been fired by Justin Verlander, and given the tight quarters it appeared to be destined to wind up tumbling into the emptiness beyond the baseline. But Ulis had placed just the right amount of spin on the ball, and instead it traveled directly up to Wideman's shoulder, where he caught it easily and turned it into a layup. It didn't even matter that the shot was missed. If you saw this sequence, you'd be talking about it for weeks.

Ulis chuckled when that pass was mentioned. How did he learn to do such things? "Just from watching the game, watching guys like Chris Paul, I just picked it up," Ulis said. "I've always played point guard, so it just comes pretty natural."

In the history of the NBA All-Star Game, there have been only eight participants listed under 6-0. So it's obvious Ulis' height is an obstacle. But even though such players as Bogues, Spud Webb and Earl Boykins did not have star-level careers, they were able to endure in a sport whose very design makes the game more challenging for players their size.

"That's a good thing, people to look up to, because people doubt us because we're small," Ulis said. "You've got to fight through it and work harder.

"I'm getting more interest, but me and my dad always thought that would happen one day. Once I'd get on the big circuit, people would just look past my size if I came out and played well."